Wire handling machine



May 5, 1964 H. H. DUFF WIRE HANDLING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 24, 1957 HAROLD H. DUFF ATTORNEY May 5, 1964 H. H. DUFF WIRE HANDLING MACHINE Filed July 24, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. HAROLD H. DUFF Q4 p ATTORNEY y 5, 1964 H. H. DUFF WIRE HANDLING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 24, 1957 FIG. 5

INVENT OR.

HAROLD H. DUFF ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofifice 3,131,884 Patented May 5, 1964 3,131,884 WIRE HANDLING MACHINE Harold H. Duff, Manchester, Conn., assiguor to Entwistle Manufacturing Corporation, Providence, R.I., a corporation of Rhode Island Filed July 24, 1957, Ser. No. 673,842 8 Claims. (Cl. 242-128) The present invention relates to improvements in wire handling machines and more particularly to an improved apparatus for the support of reels and the control of the wire being withdrawn from the reel.

Heretofore, various arrangements have been proposed whereby the continuous withdrawal of wire from a plurality of supply reels can be accomplished. In such arrangements, the supply reels are supported beneath the hood which is to guard and guide the Wire to a wire drawing machine, or the like. The inner strand end of one reel is butt-welded to the outer strand end of another reel. The wire is then drawn through the hood from the first reel and after all of the wire has been withdrawn from the first reel the butt welded connection makes possible the continual feed of Wire by initiating withdrawal of wire from the second reel. The hood for such an arrangement tapers from a wide mouthed base adapted to overlie but not receive the supply reels to a narrow elongated slot through which the wire is pulled. Because of the substantial centrifugal force with which the wire is withdrawn from each of the reels, the wire tends to form a balloon. The housing or hood confines the wire but because the housing is shaped to accommodate a plurality of reels, the balloon for an individual reel is not uniformly confined by the hood, but rather, is confined through one half its movement by one side of the hood. Such a hood formation produces an uneven wire balloon, and the wire, which preferably is traveling at a high rate of speed, runs at a non-uniform rate of speed and is thus subjected to jerking. The non-uniformity of speed causing the jerkiness sometimes results in a breakage of the wire and also makes it diflicult to handle the wire in any machine fed by the hood. Thus wire speeds are held down of necessity in prior art arrangements.

Also, if it is necessary to stop the operation of the withdrawal of wire from either of the reels, before all of the wire has been withdrawn from a reel, and because of the vertical relationship of the reel axis and the hood associated therewith, the wire in the wire balloon falls and tends to become entangled with succeeding coils of wire on the reels, which of course is objectionable.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present in vention to provide ari improved wire handling apparatus especially useful in confining the wire balloon formed while withdrawing wire from plural supply reels.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved hood construction whereby continuous high speed withdrawal of Wire from plural supply reels is made possible yet wherein the wire balloons formed with respect to each supply reel are substantially confined throughout more than one half their travel so as to eliminate or substantially minimize jerkiness in the wire and to prevent breakage thereof.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved hood construction in wire handling apparatus whereby the wire is confined throughout substantially all of its travel while being withdrawn from each of the supply reels and yet wherein continuous withdrawal of wire from the plural supply reels is made possible.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved hood arrangement for guiding the continuous withdrawal of wire from plural supply reels wherein the outlet end of the guiding hood includes a discharge opening through which the wire is guided and confined from all but axial movement therethrough.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved arrangement whereby the guide hood and the supply reels associated therewith are supported in a horizontal relationship, thereby preventing entanglements caused by prior art vertical arrangements and also facilitating the handling of the supply reels.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved hood arrangement in a wire handling apparatus for continuously withdrawing wire from plural supply reels wherein the wire is confined in its outward movement while unwinding from a supply reel so as to prevent entanglement with an adjacent supply reel.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved wire handling apparatus for Withdrawing Wire from supply reels wherein a ring is provided for encircl ng in overlapping relation an end flange of the supply reel to prevent contact of the wire with the periphery of the supply reel end flange.

A further object of the present is to provide an improved wire handling apparatus for continuously withdrawing wire from plural supply reels wherein the supply reels are supported on mobilemeans for facile transportation of the supply reels from storage to the wire withdrawal apparatus and wherein the wire reels are supported in the withdrawal apparatus by the mobile means.

, means and wherein the mobile means includes hydraulic means for raising and lowering the supply reels.

Various other objects and advantages will become apparent from the detailed description to follow.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view looking at the side of the cone-like wall sections and at the hood as a. whole with the mobile means for supporting the supply reels associated therewith;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the arrangement shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal sectional View taken substantially along the plane 33 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a detail sectional view of the shaft on which the reel is supported and the guide ring associated therewith in section;

FIGURE 5 is an 'end elevational view of the guide ring of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an end elevational view of the hood, looking at the end adapted to receive the supply reels and showing the supporting frame;

FIGURE 7 is an end elevational view of the mobile support means for the supply reels; and

FIGURE 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line 88 in FIGURE 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like numerals apply to like parts throughout, it will be seen that the wire handling apparatus comprises the hood 10 mounted on a supporting frame 12 and having mobile means 14 associated therewith for supporting wire reels 16 in predetermined relation to the hood 10.

The hood 10 is fabricated from sheet metal stock formed to the desired shape and welded along its seams, and having its interior smooth and free of weld so as to provide a uniform surface for contact by the wire being withdrawn from the supply reels 16. The hood 10 is comprised of a pair of cone-like wall sections 18 and 20 which taper from inlet ends 22 and 24, respectively, to the reduced diameter of the ends 26 and 28 respectively. The inner surface of each of the cone-like wall sections is shaped so as to substantially conform to a surface generated by an element disposed at an angle to'and rotated around a fixed axis 30, 32 to travel through more than 180 and less than 360 so as to provide a longitudinal wall opening at 34, 36 in the respective wall sections. The width of the wall opening along the length of the conical sections is determined by the balance of element travel remaining to complete 360 of travel. Preferably, the openings 34 and 36 constitute a very small portion of element travel for a purpose to be brought out more fully hereinafter. The cone-like wall sections 18 and 20 are in juxtaposed relationship, being almost tangent to each other at the locus of the longitudinal wall openings 34 and 36. The conical wall sections =18 and 20 are connected by joinder walls 38 and 40 on each side of the wall openings 34 and 36, the joinder walls 38 and 40 being curved so as to blend with the inside surfaces of the conical sections 18 and 20. The reduced diameter outlet ends 26 and 28 of the cone-like wall sections 18 and 20 are truncated, as at 42, so as to provide a common discharge opening which is substantially circular in shape. As shown in FIGURE :2, the axes 30 and 32 of the conelike wall sections 18 and 20 are disposed in non-parallel relationship and are arranged so as to intersect, locating the vertices of the wall sections at a common point.

Each of the cone-like wall sections 18 and 20 further ineludes a supply reel-receiving end portion as at 44 and 46. The supply reel-receiving end portions are substantially cylindrical in shape and are coaxial with their resepective tapered portions and the axes 30 and 32. The supply reel-receiving end portions 44 and 46 are thus disposed in angular relationship to each other, as seen best in FIG- URE 2.. The joinder walls 38 and 40 include triangular portions at 48 and '50 to join the cylindrical portions 44 and 46 and thus provide communication between the interiors of the two conical sections 18 and 20. The mouth of the entire hood at the reel-receiving end thereof has an angle iron strap 52 received thereon for rigidifying the hood. As best illustrated in FIGURE 3, the supply reels are encircled by the end portions 44, 46.

The frame 12 includes a pair of angle irons '54 and 56 which are disposed in angular relationship coinciding with the angle between the axes 30 and 32. The angle irons 54 and 56 are joined together and to the base of a T iron 58 which has its upper end connected with the discharge end 42 of the cone-like wall sections 18 and 20, as shown in FIGURE 1. The angle irons 54 and 56 are joined intermediate their ends by angle iron 60, which is located below the juncture of the cylindrical reel-receiving end portions and the conical wall portions. The other ends of the angle irons 54 and 56 have upstanding angle irons 62 and 64, respectively, connected therewith, the upper ends of the angle irons 62 and 64 being joined with the (cylindrical reel-receiving end portions at the mouths thereof and preferably being secured to the angle iron strap '52. The frame arrangement 12 is such as to support the entire hood with its axes in a horizontal plane. To further rigidify the hood and frame assembly a short angle iron piece 66 connects the triangular wall portions 48 and 50 at the rim 52. v

The mobile means 14 includes a supporting frame of substantially U-shape made up of angle irons. A hydraulicjaok housing 68 has a pair of angle irons 70, 72, and 74, 76 joined thereto and extending horizontally outwardly.therefrom,.-as seen in FIG. 2. The angle irons 70, 72 and 74, 76 are in back to back relationship and rigidly joined to each other. To complete the' U-shaped frame, .are a pair of longitudinally 'disposedangle irons 78 and 80. The angle iron 78 has its end 82 secured to theouter end of the angle irons 70- and 72 while the corresponding end *84 of the angle iron 80 is joined to the outer ends of the angleirons 74 and 76. .To rigidify the joints, the an-gularly extending angle irons 86 and 88 are provided. The angle irons can be connected together by weld or other suitable means, as desired. The frame described for the support of the hydraulic jack 68 has four caster wheels 92 connected to the underside.

thereof, as by the bolts 93. Thus, the frame and the hy- 4 d-raulic jack are supported for movement on a supporting surface.

The hydraulic jack 68 embodies substantially conventional means including the hydraulic cylinder 94 with the piston rod 96 extending therefrom and having a sprocket 98 connected rotatably to its outer end. A chain 100 is anchored to the plate 102 in the housing 104 and has an intermediate portion thereof engaged over the sprocket 98 while the end of the chain 100 is connected to the reel shaft support bracket 106. The cylinder 94 is actuated by the handle 108, shown in FIGURES l and 2, to effect lifting ,of the piston rod 96 and thus the bracket 106 through the chain 100. When it is desired to lower the bracket 106, the control 110 at the top of the hydraulic jack housing can be moved in its slot 112 to release the ratchet bar 113 which releasably holds the bracket 106 in a selected vertical position.

The bracket 106 can be of any desired construction but preferably includes a pair of side walls 114 and 116 joined by the top wall 118 and having a front wall 120 eonnected therewith. The plate 122 is connected to the three walls 114, 116, and 120 and provides the means to which the chain 100 has its end anchored for raising and lowering the bracket 106.

The bracket 106 has a bearing sleeve 124 carried therein with its bore aligned with an opening 126 in the front plate 120. A set screw 128 passes through the top wall 118 and is adapted to engage in a groove in the reel shaft or spindle 130 which is received in the bearing 124. The shaft 130 has a disc 132 received thereon at one end and another disc 134 received thereon adjacent the other end. The reel-receiving sleeve 136 is engaged on the discs 132 and 134 and is welded thereto as at 138 and 140. A set screw 142 is engaged through the sleeve 134 for engage ment in the groove 144 in the shaft 130 so as to adjust the positioning of the sleeve 136. The wire reel which carries the supply of wire is shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 4 in its relationship on the sleeve 136.

In order to facilitate the removal of wire from the supply reel 146, the guide ring assembly 148 is provided. The guide ring assembly 148 includes a bearing 150 which is freely rotatably received on the shaft 130 and retained thereon by means of the retainer ring 152 and its set screw 154. The ring 156 is formed from seamless steel tubing which is bent to circular shape and butt welded at the ends and thereafter ground smooth and highly polished. The spokes for the ring 156 are formed by T irons, as at 158, which have their inner ends welded to the bearing 150 and their outer-ends welded to the rim 156 so as to be substantially completely on one side of the ring 156, as shown best in FIGURE 4. The T irons 158 are beveled, as at 162, down to the tips which are welded at 160 to the tubing 156. With this arrangement, it will be seen that the supply reel 146 has its end flange or plate 164 received within the guide ring 156 thus enabling the exterior smooth surface of the ring 156 to provide a substitute for the periphery of the end flange or plate 164, over which the wire is drawn.

At the discharge end of the hood 10 and on the vertical T iron 58 of the frame 12, there is provided a wire'guide support bracket 164 which has a wire guide die bracket 166 connected thereto, as by screws at 168. The wire guide die bracket 166 has a wire guide die 170 received therein. The die 17 0 has an aperture 172 formed therein which is of preselected size according to the size of the wire to be drawn therethrough. A guide wheel is provided at 174 and is formed with a grooved periphery 176 under which the wire 178 passes when received from the aperture 172 of the die 170. The guide wheel 174 is rotatably carried on the angulated bracket element 180 which has its lower end connected with the bracket element 182 by means of the bolts at 184. The element 182 has its inner end connected to the wire guide support bracket 164 soas to locate the guide wheel 174 in preselected relation to the die 170.

When it is desired to continuously withdraw wire from plural supply reels, the mobile means 14, of which a pair are utilized in the present invention, are wheeled to the storage area for the supply reels. The supply reel supporting shaft 130 is lowered and engaged in the spindlereceiving bore of a supply reel. The spindle 130 is then raised by pumping the handle 168 of the hydraulic jack. The supply reel is then wheeled to the hood so as to locate the supply reel completely within the cylindrical portion of the hood, as best shown in FIGURE 3. The supply reel then has its vertical position adjusted so as to be coaxial with the hood. Thus, a pair of supply reels can be located within the respective supply reel-receiving portions 44 and 46. The outer strand end of one of the reels is passed through the die 170 and under the guide wheel 174 to the machine being fed, which can be a spooler, a wire drawing machine, or any other wire handling ma chine. Next the inner strand end of the first reel is connected to the outer strand end of the second reel at the interior of the housing, that is, inwardly of the angle iron 66. The wire can then be withdrawn by pulling. The wire will thus be unwound fi'om the reel and will by centrifugal force form a Wire balloon. However, the wire balloon is confined by the inner surface of the conical wall sections and the cylindrical wall portions and follows a generally spiral path, as shown at 186 in FIG- URE 3. The wire is passed over the polished outer surface of the ring 156 during initiation of the wire withdrawing operation and also when stopping, and, therefore, does not contact the end flange or plate of the reel by which it might be damaged or broken.

The shape of the conical sections 18 and 20 is such as to confine the wire balloon throughout substantially all of its movement only a minor portion of its travel being unconfined at the longitudinal slots 34 and 36 which interconnect the conical wall sections. Thus, jerkiness in the wire balloon is eliminated or substantially minimized and a more uniform flow of the wire to the spooler, wire drawing machine, or other machine is provided.

Moreover, the taper of the conical sections is selected so as to develop a back pressure in the wire which tends to loosen two or three coils on the reel thereby facilitating the overall unwinding of the wire from the reel and feeding to another wire working or handling machine.

I have found that my improved handling machine Works best with certain relationships between the supply reel size and the hood dimensions. Thus with supply reels of from 16 to 22 inches and with a wire size of from #26 up to about #14 with the ring 156 having an outside diameter of about 2 inches larger than the reel size, I have found that hood cylindrical reel-receiving portions 44 and 46 having an internal diameter of about 30 inches function well. The taper of the cone-like portions 18 and 20 is that provided by having the vertex angle approximately 48.

Where the supply reels are of from 24 to 30 inches in size and the wire from #26 up to #8, the outside diameter of the ring 156 should again be about 2 inches larger, with the hood cylindrical reel-receiving portions about 36 inches inside diameter and the included angle of the conelike portions about 56.

With the foregoing proportions, the wire will traverse a spiral path continuously forward through the hood and out through the discharge opening. Where the proportioning is improper, I have found the loops of the wire spiral will tend to reversely travel, sometimes forming figure 8s, thereby resulting in knotting and breakage of the wire. With proper proportioning, for example as given above, the wire will have the proper back pressure for releasing two or three coils on the supply reel while the spiral wire loops are moving continuously forwardly through the hood and are being substantially uniformly restrained throughout such forward movement.

In addition I have found that my arrangement permits of high speed operation and in fact appears to perform better at the higher speeds, whereas prior ments required very low speeds.

As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and all changes that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims or that form their functional as well as conjointly cooperation equivalents, are therefore intended to be embraced by these claims.

I claim:

1. In a wire handling machine in which wire is drawn successively from supply reels, a hood comprising a pair of juxtaposed substantially complete cone-like wall sections, each of said wall sections tapering from an inlet end to a reduced diameter outlet end, said wall sections each having a narrow slot therein throughout the length thereof, and joinder wall portions connecting said wall sections on opposite sides of the narrow slots so as to provide communication between the interiors of the cone-like wall sections, the axes of said cone-like wall sections extending from the inlet ends to the outlet ends thereof converging at the outlet ends thereof.

2. In a wire handling machine in which wire is drawn successively from supply reels, a hood comprising a pair of juxtaposed substantially complete cone-like wall sections, each of said wall sections tapering from an inlet end to a reduced diameter outlet end, said wall sections each having a narrow slot therein throughout the length thereof, and joinder wall portions connecting said wall sections on opposite sides of the narrow slots so as to provide communication between the interiors of the conelike wall sections, the vertices of said cone-like wall sections being substantially coincidental, and said outlet ends being truncated to provide a common discharge opening.

3. In a wire handling machine in which wire is drawn successively from supply reels, a hood comprising a pair of juxtaposed substantially complete cone-like wall sections, each of said wall sections tapering from an inlet end to a reduced diameter outlet end, said wall sections each having a narrow slot therein throughout the length thereof, joinder wall portions connecting said wall sections on opposite sides of the narrow slots so as to provide communication between the interiors of the cone-like wall sections, the axes of the cone-like wall sections extending from the inlet ends to the outlet ends thereof converging at the outlet ends thereof, means supporting supply reels within the inlet ends of said hood, and smooth surfaced guide rings carried by said reel supporting means so as to encircle the end flanges of the respective supply reels.

4. In a wire handling machine in which wire is drawn successively from supply reels, a hood comprising a pair of juxtaposed substantially complete cone-like wall sec tions, each of said wall sections tapering from a substantially cylindrical reel-receiving inlet end to a reduced diameter outlet end, said wall sections each having a narrow, slot therein throughout the length thereof, joinder wall portions connecting said wall sections on opposite sides of the narrow slots so as to provide communication between the interiors of the cone-like wall sections, the axes of the cone-like wall sections extending from the inlet ends to the outlet ends thereof converging at the outlet ends thereof, a frame connected with said hood for supporting the same with the axes of said cone-like wall sections substantially in a horizontal plane, means supporting supply reels within said reel-receiving inlet ends, and smooth surfaced guide rings carried by said reel supporting means so as to encircle the end flanges of the respective supply reels.

5. In a wire handling machine in which wire is drawn successively from supply reels, a hood comprising a pair of juxtaposed substantially complete cone-like wall sections, each of said wall sections tapering from a substantially cylindrical reel-receiving inlet end to a reduced diameter outlet end, the vertices of said cone-like wall secart arrange- ,tions being substantially coincidental, and said outlet ends being truncated to provide a common discharge opening, said wall sections each having a narrow slot therein throughout the length thereof, joinder wall portions connecting said wallsections on opposite sides of the narrow slots so as to provide communication between the interiors of the cone-like Wall sections, a frame connected with said hood for supporting the same with the axes of said conelike wall sections substantially in a horizontal plane, means supporting supply reels within said reel-receiving inlet ends, and smooth surfaced guide rings carried by said reel supporting means so as to encircle the end flanges of the respective supply reels.

6. In apparatus for supplying continuously strand material from a plurality of interconnected, successive sources of supply thereof which is subject to ballooning at relatively high speeds, including means for supporting the sources of supply of strand material with the axes thereof about which the strand material is removed converging at a position adjacent to one end of the guiding means, the improvement which comprises guiding means positioned adjacent to the sources of supply of the strand material for receiving, suppressing and compressing the ballooning eifect of the strand material, said guiding means having two contiguous substantially conically shaped passages havingconverging longitudinal axes which coincide with the axes of the respective sources of supply of the strand material for directing the strand material from either of the supply means, and a restricted passage between the conically shaped passages for permitting the source of supply of the strand material to be shifted from one source of supply to the other source of supply while the strand material is being supplied continuously from the successive sources, said guiding means having an aperture at the upper, end thereof and adjacent to the position of convergence of the axes of the sources of supply which is common to both conically shaped passages for the passage of the strand material, so that the strand material may be supplied continuously from interconnected, successive sources which become active automatically and immediately upon the depletion of the strand material of the preceding source.

7. In a wire handling machine in which wire is drawn successively from supply reels, a hood comprising a pair of juxtaposed substantially complete cone-like wall sections, each of said wall sections tapering from an inlet end to a reduced diameter outlet end and in converging relationship to one another, said wall sections each having a narrow slot therein throughout the length thereof, and joinder wall portions connecting said wall sections on opposite sides of the narrow slot so as to provide communication between the interiors of the cone-like wall sections, said outlet ends being truncated to form a common discharge opening.

8. In a wire handling machine in which wire is drawn successively from supply reels, a hood comprising a pair of cone-like wall sections, each of said wall sections tapering from an inlet end to a reduced diameter outlet end with the axes thereof converging at the outlet ends, said wall sections each having a narrow slot therein throughout the length thereof, said wall sections having their respective longitudinal wall openings juxtaposed and being joined so that the longitudinal Wall openings provide communication between the interiors of the cone-like wall sections, and said outlet ends having a common discharge opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,578,488 Walker Mar. 30, 1926 1,955,805 Hanson Apr. 24, 1934 2,349,873 Lisy May 30, 1944 2,629,566 King Feb. 24, 1953 2,640,663 Leland June 2, 1953 2,911,166 Haugwitz Nov. 3, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 729,738 Great Britain May 11, 1955 

1. IN A WIRE HANDLING MACHINE IN WHICH WIRE IS DRAWN SUCCESSIVELY FROM SUPPLY REELS, A HOOD COMPRISING A PAIR OF JUXTAPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETE CONE-LIKE WALL SECTIONS, EACH OF SAID WALL SECTIONS TAPERING FRON AN INLET END TO A REDUCED DIAMETER OUTLET END, SAID WALL SECTIONS EACH HAVING A NARROW SLOT THEREIN THROUGHOUT THE LENGTH THEREOF, AND JOINDER WALL PORTIONS CONNECTING SAID WALL SECTIONS ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE NARROW SLOTS SO AS TO PROVIDE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE INTERIORS OF THE CONE-LIKE WALL SECTIONS, THE AXES OF SAID CONE-LIKE WALL SECTIONS EXTENDING FROM THE INLET ENDS TO THE OUTLET ENDS THEREOF CONVERGING AT THE OUTLET ENDS THEREOF. 